No Sun, no Moon, no Stars…only shadows, as black as the wings of Raven himself.

Raven was tired of the night, he wanted to see his world.

The soft glow of the fire was not enough.

Sunbox; adapted by Duane Ghastant’ Aucoin

This is the opening of one of the most powerful stories from my Tlingit People.

It’s a story of two characters, the first is Raven – the most powerful being created by Dakiha.ankowu. The second is Nashaka.ankowu – the house leader or Kha Sha Da Hani.

Nashaka.ankowu had many possessions but his most precious he kept in three boxes. In the smallest the Stars in the next largest the Moon and in the grandest, his most valued possession, the Sun. He kept them hidden away and would not share them with a world full of darkness.

Raven tricked the old man and released the Stars, the Moon and the Sun & brought light to the world.

Nashaka.ankowu was very sad over all that he had lost until he saw the beauty of the world around him. He felt the warmth of the sun and he finally understood.

This story has followed me ever since I first heard it. Every time I hear it something new jumps out at me. The main teachings I get from this story though comes from Nashaka.ankowu. Mainly because I relate to him in his need to protect what is precious to him. But in trying to keep his treasures safe, he keeps the world in darkness. Then along comes Raven who tricks the old man and lights up the world for all to see.

Nashaka.ankowu is sad until he realizes that his treasures are not meant to be kept hidden away but are meant to be shared with the world to help all.

How many times in my own life have I not wanted to share the gifts that have been shared with me. It’s easier and safer to keep them hidden but then we deny the reason we were given these treasures. They are not meant just for our benefit but for the benefit of all the People.

I look at my Tlingit Culture right now and I see it, as I see all cultures, as a gift from the Creator meant to bring light to the darkness.

Unfortunately, due to many reasons, our culture is in many ways kept hidden and not shared in its fullness. The complete richness of what it means to be Tlingit is held back and therefore the light of its teachings can not shine as brightly as it should. Walking around in the dusk can be just as dangerous as in the darkness. We think we are going the right way but can discover when it’s too late that we are lost.

Now, in my humble opinion, there are a few major reasons for our culture not being shared in its fullness.

The main one is Christianity, or more accurately, the oppression of foreign values and teachings which results in the suppression of values and teachings which do not conform. This has happened from day one with the foreign missionaries coming over and telling us that our way was evil and wrong and that their way was the only way to be “saved”.

Then they received the backing of the government and intensified the cultural genocide in residential schools.

At the beginning we hid our culture away to protect it from this assault. But now, we have kept it hidden for so long we are having trouble remembering where we hid it.

Unfortunately, many times, when we do try to open the boxes and look inside we end up looking though the eyes of the colonizer. By this I mean we have been brainwashed by the Church and government for so long we don’t realize that it has tainted our vision with a different set of values and beliefs. While there are many similarities between these two value systems there are also many huge differences that are incompatible. It’s usually our culture that suffers because of this clash.

Many times our cultural teachings are conformed to make them more acceptable to the European/Christian culture. Certain incompatible teachings are either suppressed and not talked about or they are amended to make them fall inline with the “norm”.

The end result is a culture that is an echo of its past glory, a neutered version of its former strength.

A watered down culture can be even more dangerous than no culture at all. Mainly because we are conditioned to think we are following the right path but in reality we are just walking in circles and going nowhere. This is evident in all of our communities today. We see it every time one of our People hurts themselves or others. We see it every time one of our People professes to be a teacher of our way but doesn’t live what they teach. We see it every time one of our People turns their back on our cultural teachings in the name of freedom. We see it every time one of our People wants to challenge our way in the name of democracy.

There are many who profess in one breath their love and respect for our culture and in the next breath they pick and choose what teachings they will follow. We can’t have it both ways, we can’t have our bannock and eat it too. We either love and respect our culture by living it or we don’t.

Now I’m not saying that other ways are wrong or bad, I’m not going to make the same mistake that was done to us. But what I am saying is that their ways are good for them but they are not our ways and therefore not good for us. Only our way, which was the way handed down to us and has kept us strong for countless generations, can keep us healthy and happy.

I think that is what is needed now in all of our communities, a serious rediscovery of our culture and all of its teachings and wisdom. We must filter out the residue of European/Christian values so that ours can shine to their full brightness and purity. The time is past for us feeling sorry for ourselves and blaming everyone else for our troubles. Yes, we are all victims of this abuse and many of us are not aware that we are still continuing this cycle. But we can’t hide behind being victims for the rest of our lives. We must finally grow up and take back the responsibility that is ours. If we don’t take this journey of self discovery together then we will have no one to blame but ourselves when we can’t find the box anymore that holds our treasure.

Once we take this journey together as one People and find that box that was hidden for so long, we can then open it together and let its light fill the world so we can all see and admire the beauty around us!